KAFR KANNA (JEBEL KHUWWEIKHA): IRON II, LATE HELLENISTIC and ROMAN REMAINS a Salvage Excavation Was Carried out in November 20
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Hadashot Arkeologiyot— Excavations ans Surveys in Israel 125 KAFR KANNA (JEBEL KHUWWEIKHA): IRON II, LATE HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN REMAINS YARDENNA ALEXANDRE INTRODUCTION A salvage excavation was carried out in November 2006 prior to construction on the lower western slope of Jebel Khuwweikha (‘the weak’ or ‘perforated’ hill), a soft, chalky limestone hill rising to the east of the village nucleus of Kafr Kanna in the Lower Galilee (map ref. NIG 232700/739025, OIG 182700/239025; hilltop elevation 350 m asl; Fig. 1:a).1 The site, at an altitude of c. 300 m asl, afforded some protection, although not qualifying as a naturally fortified spot. The moderate slopes were amenable to olive and fruit cultivation, as well as to goat and sheep grazing, whilst fertile agricultural lands were accessible c. 1 km to the north, in the Tur‘an/Bet Rimon Valley. This valley was traversed by the ancient east–west road connecting ‘Akko and Tiberias. The nearest fresh water source, a spring (known as “Kanna spring”), is found south of the village nucleus, about 900 m southeast of, and 80 m lower than, the site (at c. 220 m asl), rendering water carrying a tedious chore. The present-day Jebel Khuwweikha senior inhabitants recall the women’s daily trek to the spring to bring water. The local nari and chalky limestone are well suited for quarrying building stones and cutting out rock-hewn agricultural installations and caves. Several surveys and salvage excavations have been carried out over the past twenty years in the village of Kafr Kanna, which sprawls over several hills (Fig. 1:b). Archaeological elements identified on the Jebel Khuwweikha slopes include rock-hewn winepresses and other agricultural installations, stone cairns, circular outlines of towers or watch booths, as well as burial caves and cist graves. Most of these elements were dated to the Roman and Byzantine periods (Gal 1998:24*, Sites 5–7). An excavation carried out about 100 m northwest of the present excavation exposed Roman-period remains, comprising a stone-paved courtyard with a small winepress and a plastered cistern for the storage of run-off rain water, as well as evidence of a nari limestone quarry that predated the paved courtyard (Alexandre 2013). Four burial caves, also dating to the Roman period, were excavated on the southern slope of Jebel Khuwweikha (Najjar 1997). The most significant archaeological feature on Jebel Khuwweikha, located near the top of the hill, c. 170 m east of the excavation described below, is an extensive Early Roman hiding complex, comprising a series of interconnected rock-hewn chambers and water cisterns.2 To the west of Jebel Khuwweikha, within the ancient nucleus of Kafr Kanna, several archaeological elements, 2 YARDENNA ALEXANDRE 226 000 232 000 228 000 230 000 742 234 000 742 000 T u r‘a n / B e t R i m o n 000 To Haifa/Acre V a l l e y To Tiberias Bet Rimon Junction 740 740 000 000 Zippori 356 Mashad (Gat Hefer) Kafr Kanna Jebel Khuwweikha 738 738 000 000 Reina 736 736 000 N a z a r e t h H i l l s 000 Nazareth 734 734 000 Nazareth ‘Ilit 000 0 2 a km 226 000 228 000 230 000 232 000 234 000 234 000 231 000 232 000 233 000 240 740 Junction 000 000 To Bet Rimon Karm er-Ras Iron Age, Subterranean Hellenistic, Roman Kafr Kanna hiding complexes settlements . Churches ... .. ... ... The Excavation Jebel 739 Khuwweikha 739 000 . ... 000 Middle Bronze .. ... settlement Early Bronze settlement Spring Burial cave ... Archaeological .. remains 0 500 738 b m 738 000 000 233 000 232 000 Fig. 1. Location map: (a) location of Kafr Kanna in the Lower Galilee; (b) location of archaeological remains in Kafr Kanna. including Roman-period burial caves, have been uncovered (Abu Uqsa 2002).3 Extensive settlement remains dating to the Chalcolithic, Early, Intermediate and Middle Bronze periods have been uncovered around the Kafr Kanna spring (Permit Nos. A-4695, A-4977, A-4672, A-5346, A-5566; Covello-Paran 2013; Howard Smithline, pers. comm.).4 Similarly extensive settlement remains exposed on the low Karm er-Ras hill at the western limits KAFR KANNA (JEBEL KHUWWEIKHA): IRON II, LATE HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN REMAINS 3 of Kafr Kanna, c. 2.5 km west of the present excavation, reveal the location of the Iron Age II, Hellenistic and Roman settlements (Alexandre 2008a; 2008b; 2008c; 2008d; 2008e; forthcoming). THE EXCAVATION A two-square excavation (Sqs 1, 2; c. 58 sq m) was initiated in a privately owned building plot subsequent to the exposure of stone walls in mechanically dug trial trenches. The bedrock was reached in both squares at a depth varying from 0.8 to 1.2 m below the mechanically removed topsoil layer (0.3 m deep). The excavation revealed limited architectural remains belonging to three strata (Fig. 2): Stratum III, dated to the Iron Age IIA; Stratum II, from the Late Hellenistic period; and Stratum I, dated to the Early and Middle Roman periods. In addition, Late Roman and Early Byzantine sherds were found in the accumulated fill above the Stratum I building. The architectural remains and ceramic finds are herein described from the earliest to the latest. Fig. 2. General view of the excavation, looking south. Stratum III: The Iron Age IIA (Plan 1) The earliest building at the site consisted of segments of five walls (W107, W110, W111, W118 and W127) built on the uneven limestone bedrock. The walls (0.5–0.6 m wide), constructed of two faces of medium-sized, roughly 4 YARDENNA ALEXANDRE Stratum III Stratum II 1 1 2 2 Sq 1 Sq 1 L119 300.86 301.31 L104 301.04 L115 L115 301.42 301.42 301.18 301.18 301.32 301.47 301.44 301.47 301.22 301.44 W111 301.09 301.48 W111 301.09 300.94 L104 300.84 W107 W107 W111A 301.50 301.50 L112 L112 300.85 300.85 300.62 L104A 301.52 300.73 L109 301.52 L123 300.51 301.02 301.02 L109 301.20 L123 L121 301.53 301.59 301.59 300.70 301.49 301.49 301.25 L124 W110 301.46 W110 301.46 301.27 301.27 301.08 300.98 300.98 300.67 300.67 301.10 W127 301.10 W127 300.91 300.91 300.81 L125 300.85 300.85 Sq 2 Sq 2 L116 L105 301.17 300.75 301.17 L105 300.73 L116 300.88 301.02 300.88 301.17 300.72 301.17 W118 300.97 300.97 300.92 W118 301.02 300.57 300.72 1 2 300.29 L126 L122 300.11 L113 W117299.54 W106 300.91 301.47 300.23 301.02 300.97 2 301.44 W128 0 2 1 m W127 W111A W111 302.00 W118 W110 W128 L103 L124 L104 W117 301.00 L116 L102A L109 300.00 1-1 W111 W111A 302.00 W107 W118 W106 L115 L116 301.00 L108 300.00 L113 299.00 2-2 Plan 1. Strata III and II, plans and sections. KAFR KANNA (JEBEL KHUWWEIKHA): IRON II, LATE HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN REMAINS 5 worked stones, were poorly preserved to the height of two courses (c. 0.5 m; Fig. 3). Wall 107, only partially exposed as it lay mostly beyond the excavation limits, included several larger stones. Walls 107, 110, 111 and 127 (Sq 1) delineated a room (c. 3 × 5 m) with a thin, packed-earth floor (L109) that leveled out the uneven bedrock surface. The fifth wall (W118; Sq 2; Fig. 4, left), which lay three meters south of W127, may have delimited a second room or a courtyard with a bedrock floor (L116). Floor 116 was covered by a thin accumulation (L105), in Fig. 3. Sq 1: Stratum III and II walls, looking south. Fig. 4. Sq 2: Wall 118 and Stratum II walls, looking east. 6 YARDENNA ALEXANDRE which two loaf-shaped upper grinding stones were found (Fig. 10:3, 4). A thin layer of packed earth that leveled out the uneven bedrock in the area west of W110 (L112 over L123) and a similar packed-earth layer that evened out the bedrock in the area north of W111 (L115 over L119) were probably the floors of additional rooms in this building, whose walls lay beyond the excavated area. A large number of Iron Age IIA potsherds, predominantly of cooking pots and storage jars (Fig. 7:2, 3, 5–9), were found on these packed-earth and bedrock floors (L109, L105/116, L112/123 and L115/L119). These architectural remains, albeit partial, and the associated domestic pottery suggest that they belonged to a private dwelling that was occupied during the Iron Age IIA, in the tenth and ninth centuries BCE. It was abandoned before the eighth century BCE, after which the site stood deserted for about seven centuries. Stratum II: The Late Hellenistic Period (Plan 1) New settlers, arriving during the Late Hellenistic period, reoccupied the abandoned Iron Age building, whose walls were still standing (W107, W110, W111, W118 and W127). This is attested to by the numerous potsherds of the Late Hellenistic period, mostly of cooking pots and storage jars, that were found in an accumulated fill overlying Bedrock Floor 115 (Fig. 8:8, 10–13, 19–23) and on the newly laid superimposed floors within the Iron Age II building (L104, L121, L124 and L125; Fig. 8:1–4, 6, 9, 14–17). The floors, extant only as patches of a thin layer of packed-earth, were laid over a fill (0.25–0.40 m thick) that had accumulated while the building was abandoned.